The Sidney Sun-Telegraph - Serving proudly since 1873 as the beautiful Nebraska Panhandle's first newspaper

Sidney's Lady Raider basketball team continued their success with two more wins, topping Chadron Friday night then defeating Alliance in the semi-final opening round of the B-8 Subdistrict tournament.

Friday's game started with a slow start by the Lady Raiders, with a first period highlighted by turnovers and a lack of scoring on both sides. The second quarter started with Sidney up 9-to-4, and the Lady Raiders struggled with turnovers while the Lady Cardinals had difficulty getting any good shot opportunities. The Lady Raiders eventually found their groove, and despite poor shooting opened up a 19-to-9 halftime lead.

The second half started with Chadron starting to be more effective at getting inside shots while their outside shots started to fall. Throughout the third period, the Lady Raider's exhibited sloppy play that allowed Chadron to claw back into the game.

Near the end of the quarter, the Lady Cardinals had come back to within three, 29-to-26, but Sidney senior Janay Brauer nailed a three-pointer at the buzzer to give Sidney a 32-to-26 lead going into the fourth. The fourth period would have both team's offenses going cold, with the Lady Raiders only scoring nine points against Chadron's 10, and Sidney held on for the 41-to-36 victory.

Senior Mattie Johnson led the Lady Raiders with 14 points, and the teams combined for over 40 turnovers in the contest.

On Monday evening Sidney hosted the semi-final round of the B-8 Subdistrict tournament, and drew Alliance in the first game, a team they had just defeated last week by a respectable margin. Again, the game started slowly for the Lady Raiders, with the Lady Bulldogs opening an 8-to-0 lead until Sidney sophomore Karly Sylvester put up the first two points for the Lady Raiders at the four minute mark of the first period. The Lady Raiders struggled with bad passes and missed shots, but eventually found their groove, finishing off the first period with a flurry of scoring to go into the second period only down by one, 13-to-12.

The second period again featured both teams struggling to score while turning the ball over, and ended with a three point shot by Sidney senior Meaghan Ross to take a 27-to-24 lead into the half. Sidney started to slowly pull away during the third period, capitalizing on Alliance turnovers and miscues to build a 38-to-32 lead going into the final quarter.

Sidney turned on the offense while ramping up the defense, scoring 16 points against Alliance's seven in the period to earn the 54-to-39 win and advance to the championship round of the B-8 Subdistrict tournament that was scheduled for Tuesday night Scottsbluff. Junior Nicole Birner had an outstanding game, playing excellent defense while leading the Lady Raiders offensively with 15 points in the win.